Australasian emergency nursing journal : AENJ
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Australas Emerg Nurs J · Aug 2012
Managing people with mental health presentations in emergency departments--a service exploration of the issues surrounding responsiveness from a mental health care consumer and carer perspective.
Mainstreaming of mental health services (MHS) within the Australian medical system has generated a fundamental transformation in the way consumers and carers access emergency MHS. People present to the Emergency Department (ED) with many health issues which can often include the management of their mental illness, physical co morbidity, or substance use. ⋯ The pilot project utilised focus groups with mental health care consumers and carers to collaboratively focus on and document the mental health client's 'journey of care' in the ED. There is evidence to suggest from this project that the ED mental health client journey needs continuous improvement and evaluation.
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Australas Emerg Nurs J · Aug 2012
ReviewPractical use of the Glasgow Coma Scale; a comprehensive narrative review of GCS methodology.
Narrative review of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) methodology. ⋯ The GCS was designed for the objective measurement of level of consciousness, assessment of trend, and to facilitate accurate and valid communication between clinicians. Concerns have been raised about the potential for misleading levels of precision engendered by the use of the GCS, and the use of simpler scales suggested. This review discusses the GCS and conditions affecting calculation of domain and summary scores, and recommends a method of implementation and interpretation.
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Australas Emerg Nurs J · Aug 2012
Improving pain management of abdominal pain in children presenting to the paediatric emergency department: a pre-post interventional study.
In 2007, the Mater Children's Hospital Emergency Department participated in the Emergency Care Pain Management Initiative funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council National Institute of Clinical Studies (NHMRC-NICS). The findings of this NHMRC-NICS research across eleven paediatric emergency departments highlighted deficits in pain management of abdominal pain. Specifically pain assessment, timeliness of analgesia, and pain management guidelines were found to be lacking. ⋯ This project raised local awareness in the pain management of abdominal pain and provides baseline information for future improvement. The guideline has been trialled in the clinical setting of paediatric emergency and has the potential to improve pain management practices in children presenting to the emergency department with abdominal pain.
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Australas Emerg Nurs J · Aug 2012
Out-hospital donors after cardiac death in Madrid, Spain: a 5-year review.
The Medical Emergencies Service of Madrid (Spain) (Servicio de Urgencias Medicas de Madrid), SUMMA112, forms part of an organ donor program involving patients who have suffered out-hospital cardiac arrest and fail to respond to advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers. Subjects meeting the inclusion criteria are moved to a transplant unit under sustained resuscitation maneuvering in order to harvest the organs. This paper presents compliance with the timelines of the program, the proportion of donors, the characteristics of donors and non-donors, and the number of organs obtained. ⋯ This program affords a very important number of organs for transplantation. Further studies are needed to assess the efficacy of mechanical cardiac compressor use in generating more organs.